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“What the fuck happened?” I demanded, pushing into the room.
“He had a stroke and a heart attack,” she said with a sad sigh. “The prognosis isn’t very hopeful.”
I found a chair across from the bed and sat there, frowning at the man for a moment before turning to look at the woman who was evidently my aunt.
“Why hadn’t he mentioned you? Why didn’t Mom mention you?”
“Oh, we fell out of contact long before he met your mum, dear. He likely never told her about me. He stayed well to himself, long after our parents passed.”
Parents? I’d never met his parents, and now, evidently, I knew why.
“I didn't even know he went to college,” I admitted.
She rolled her eyes, then landed her attention on her brother.
“Joe didn’t use it, so I’m not all that shocked to hear that, either. He was more interested in drinking than working. The engineering degree our parents paid for didn’t do a whole lot of good in that case.”
“If he hates you, then why are you here?”
She lifted an eyebrow, then came in and took a seat beside me. “For the same reason you’re here, hun. Because we’re related. It’s my responsibility.”
A quiet lull fell over the room with nothing but the soft beep of my dad’s monitors interrupting it.
“I take it Woodrough got ahold of you, then? That’s why you’re here?”
“He’s your private investigator, then?” I asked. “He sounded like some kind of fake over the phone.”
Felicity laughed and nodded.
“I’m sure he did. Especially to a man like you, a Marine and Special Ops. Trained out the rear. I’m sure all of it seemed a bit suspicious.”
It certainly did.
After another brief silence. I turned to her and looked her in the eyes.
“I’m here now. I’ll stay with him until he either gets better or dies. Either way, you don’t have to stick around.”
“On the contrary, I want to hang about,” she said with a shrug. “Believe it or not, I missed my brother. These last two days have been the nicest he’s ever been to me since college.”
“He’s sleeping,” I deadpanned.
“Precisely,” she agreed with a little bit of a giggle, though I could see the hurt staring back at me. “Besides, I’d like to get to know my nephew. I have three of my own, you know? You have cousins. Woodrough, who you talked to on the phone, is my PI, but he's also my eldest son.”
Holy shit, cousins?
I just shrugged.
“Where were all of you while Mom and I were getting our asses beat by this asshole?” I demanded. “Where were you when I was homeless before joining the Marines?”
Felicity’s smile dimmed.
“If I'd known, sweetheart, I would’ve taken you in. Not much I could do for your mum, but we could’ve helped you.”
That was fair enough. How could she have known?
Eventually, I pulled out my phone and turned it back on, needing to focus on something other than the woman who represented a whole part of my extended family I knew nothing about. A text waited for me, along with a missed call from Freya.
Freya: Sorry I missed you last night. Wanted to say good morning and that I love you. Call me when you get a minute.
